We are the Rylands Family: Tom, Angie, Colin, Connor, Cameron, Cooper and Tommy. This blog chronicles our journey of adoption. Our adopted sons are from Shenyang, Wuhan, Chongqing and Changsha, China. Join us as we trust God and see what He has in store.....

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Friday, March 2, 2012

How God Works- Part 5

This post is part five of the "How God Works" series, so if you have not read the original post, click here first, then here for post 2, here for post 3, and last but not least, here to catch up. :-)

You all have been more than patient with me this week so, without further ado. Even though I wrote these a few days in advance, I anticipate that by the time we get to Day 5, you will all be ready to shoot me, so here we go.

---We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.---

As I mentioned a few days ago, the process of adopting two aging out children in the span of less than 6 months had stirred up a little attention. God had used this attention to open doors for me to minister and encourage other families with a heart for adoption. He had opened doors for me to deliver messages to orphans waiting for their families and He had allowed me to advocate for those still waiting.

He had used all of this to open my eyes. I was now seeing clearly that He wanted me to use the skills He has given me to affect change in the world. Ok Lord, but what does that look like? I need a P.L.A.N!

Seriously ya'll. I don't even get out of bed in the morning without a plan. Those who know me will testify to that.

I knew I wanted to help others adopt.

I knew that I wanted to focus on those who were less likely to find their families and those who never will.

I wanted to be used to find godly homes for the neediest of children; homes where the gospel would be lived out day to day.

As I continued to ponder these things, and as I talked with wiser men and women than myself, one name continually came to mind.

LIFELINE

Now, many who are reading this will know immediately what this means- who this is.

An agency that has a wonderful reputation in the adoption world for their unrelenting pursuit of spreading the gospel and providing orphan care around the world.

Just the sort of missional organization that would share my new-found passion.

Only one problem. They were not MY agency. In fact, we had not used Lifeline for either of our adoptions. But despite this fact, and despite the fact that I did not know a soul at Lifeline, my friend Annie(remember the rock-star orphan advocate from earlier?) and I decided that we needed to reach out to Lifeline and see what the Lord would do.

So, on January 5th, after Annie's initial contact, I sent an email to Dave Wood, International Director at Lifeline. I shared with Dave what I had seen God doing in Charleston and that I felt Him calling me to do more. We asked them if they would consider opening a satellite office here in Charleston.

Now, it is probably time for another confession. Even though I knew without any reservation that I was to send that email, I really did not expect a response. I mean, Lifeline is a large organization. Dave had never heard my name. And here I was asking them to open an office? That was bold- even for me. But, Annie and I obeyed God's calling and boy did He respond.

Not only did Dave respond (thanks Dave!), but he and Herbie, the Executive Director both responded. They expressed a clear interest in talking more about this opportunity. They shared with us how God had been preparing them for this in advance of even receiving our email.

Huh?

In case you are wondering, God was at it AGAIN!

You see, unbeknownst to us, the leadership at Lifeline had been praying for direction from the Lord on where He might have them go next and SC had already been discussed as a strong possibility. However, as the email went on to explain, the board felt that they were to wait on the Lord to bring that confirmation their way.

So, you see...that email, the one I thought would end up in the "circular file of cyber space" was in fact, an answer to prayer.

Within a week, I had met via video conference with Dave and Herbie and they scheduled a visit to Charleston.

So, in February, they came to town and met with many, many people in the area with huge hearts for adoption.

During their two day stay, they were able to see first-hand just how the Lord was moving among His people here and that there was a very open and supportive network already developing.

They heard from families about the need for a Christian agency that could provide homestudy services as well as placement services.

They met with Pastors and adoption ministry leads with a passion to mobilize the church to take up the cause of orphans in their communities and around the world.

They shared the larger scope of their ministry- not just for those lucky ones chosen to be adopted, but for the unadopted as well. They shared how they have come alongside the social service agencies in various states to support the recruitment and training of christian foster families.

We learned about their heart for the unborn and how they minister to birth families as well as adoptive families.

Throughout those two days, the Lord continued to confirm for us that He was bringing us together to do His work.

So, here we are at the Big Reveal!

After much prayer, the Board of Directors has voted unanimously to pursue licensure in South Carolina based out of Charleston.

This is an amazing blessing for the state of SC and for our local Charleston community in particular.

Not only that, but I was blessed with an offer to be the Director of this new office that will serve all of South Carolina. Needless to say, I said YES!

I know that the story will not end there, but I am so humbled to have been a part of this miracle.

Thank you all for staying with me as I attempt to shine a light on the Creator who cares so deeply for the "Least of these" and so deeply for you and me.

If you have considered adoption, foster care, or supporting any of the ministries that you've read about here, please contact me. I would love to provide you with more information about how God can use you too!

7 comments:

WOW! This is so fabulous and I am so happy to see God at work in your life and in your family and in the lives of the many children you will be able to help. As I read all these posts it brought tears to my eyes. I can totally agree with waiting for the "other shoe" to drop and wondering why it never did. That was us with Zane. God is so good and I just love watching Him work!

That is so very cool!!!!! We've used Lifeline for 5 of our adoptions, and we love them!!!! Karla rocks! I can't wait to see how this God story unfolds....and if you ever have a moment would you please email me. I'd love to ask you a few questions.

Oh Angie! This just gives me chills!!! I loved chatting about how much God was doing in each of our lives while we were still in China...but seeing it continue as an advocate here in the U.S. is amazing and this confirmation you have received by Lifeline is just beautiful. Wow. I am amazed at God....AGAIN!

Oh Angie! This just gives me chills!!! I loved chatting about how much God was doing in each of our lives while we were still in China...but seeing it continue as an advocate here in the U.S. is amazing and this confirmation you have received by Lifeline is just beautiful. Wow. I am amazed at God....AGAIN!